The Blood of Chivalry
by penpaninuSessh
Summary: Who am I? To whom do I belong? Prince Chid, the young Duke of Freid, discovers something about his lineage.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Penpaninu does not claim to own characters from the Vision of Escaflowne. I wish I were that talented to write the story for a well-loved anime.

"The Blood of Chivalry"

A Prince Chid POV by penpaninu

Life since Father's death and the Great War of Gaea passed in a parade of decorum, ritual and ceremony befitting a prince of my kingdom. The Duchy of Freid commanded I rule for the people and never myself, that I remain vigilant, strong, and every quality that fit Father to a T. My Father was a tall imposing man of dark complexion and a fierce beard that stretched across his stern countenance. His tall strength never failed to assure me I was provided for, and his steely eyes always softened for me. More when I was a small child, but I knew Father cared for me.

Oft times I watch myself in a looking glass and bright blue eyes as clear as the sky watch me in return. My short hair is cropped close in the back, and blond as everyone said Mother's was. I was sure I had gotten my looks solely from her as a lineage of dark-haired bearded dukes had ruled Freid for centuries. Asturia's royalty flowed in my veins and I took solace in the fact that even though Mother had passed on, she was still with me, peering out at me through the looking glass of our similar looks.

"Prince Chid, the dignitaries are awaiting your appearance in the Throne Room," Gangi says sternly. He wasn't as experienced as Voris, or as rotund my mind kindly recalled, but he was as loyal, and ready to serve the royal house of Freid. I clasp my slender hands together and stride with a purpose down the stone hallways of the palace I knew from birth. My guards and Gangi flank me from behind, granting me a princely escort to the high chair I climbed up to sit cross-legged in.

Those slender fair hands I take long moments to study rest against my knees in a kingly manner. I addressed the dignitaries as they bow low with the monks lining my throne room walls. I keep my gaze stretched to the farthest reaches of the stone chamber as Father had taught me. I remember it well, how he carried me against his strong shoulder, my small arms clasped around the smooth linen of his sleeping robe. It was well past the witching hour, and only a lone guard trailed after to ensure our protection even in Freid's palace.

"You sit high up here, Chid. Always keep your gaze distant, and your expression smooth. Freid's ruler must always be sure of his convictions," Father told me as he sat me in his throne. My tiny legs had dangled and I looked around from the height in wonder, sure that one day I would get to sit up here again once Father said it was alright.

"Yes, Father," I had said softly. Father's stern eyes softened and he picked me up, holding me close.

"You are a good son, Chid. You will make Freid proud," he had whispered. That memory was ever close to my heart. Sometimes I wondered why Father would be severely stern with me years later, but take the smallest moments to remind me of his love for me.

I sighed and clasped my hands over my knees. I had to sit up here until business was finished, ruler of Freid or not. Father instilled discipline in me however, and I would survive the meeting.

Once the delegations were over and I got to climb down from Father's high seat, my time was taken over to reading scrolls and applying Freid's seal. Millerna Oba-sama had sent a personal letter that I took the time to read with a wide smile on my regal lips. I would answer her at great length. Funny, Auntie's letters were always somewhat sad in tone. I wonder if she was merely sad at King Aston's passing. I truly grieved over my grandfather, even though I had seen him very little. But Auntie had her elder sister, the Princess Eries. Auntie would be all right. And she had the Knight Caeli, Allen Schezar to protect her and her kingdom. That was enough, wasn't it? Gangi cleared his throat behind my desk.

"Highness, won't we continue on with your weapons training?" he murmured politely. I nodded and stood, my over robe swishing.

"Of course, Gangi. It's that time again isn't it?" I asked in return. Gangi stood at attention, one fist over his bare chest.

Out in the courtyard I strip down to my tunic. Freid's crest was sewn elaborately across the breast, and my leggings were light silk, my boots soft worn leather. Mother's ring was on the middle finger of my left hand, shining in the sun. I looked every bit of a prince, but Gangi and the guards asked I continue with the weapons training Father surely would have wanted me to know. Growing up with tales of Father's battle prowess, and seeing him practice with a blade in the stone wide courtyard told me I wanted to make him proud.

Gangi brings my imperial blade, Father's own weapon. It was passed from Duke to Duke, and like many royal houses of Gaea, held the crest in the hilt so opponents would know whose blade they were facing. It was very long and curved, but I could hold it in one slim arm. Gangi faces me with his own blade, blunted for safety's sake, and salutes.

"On guard," I command and my advisor and I whirl around each other in battle's dance. I know not where I got my grace from, the quick decisive steps taken to evade my partner's blows. Father had always been large and imposing, quick to take a blade against his own rather than dance away. He was strong where I was quick, dark where I was fair. Indeed, did Mother's uncles move with this fluidity or speed? Was my martial ability taken from Asturia alone?

Gangi moved with me with a grunt and our blades clanged together, the steel kissing and singing loudly under the blue Freid sky. Finally we stop, and Gangi regards me with unrestrained respect. I salute him with Father's blade and Gangi returns the gesture. We resheathe and smile like young boys venturing at their first practice.

"You are very fast, Highness," Gangi observes. "Your father was more stolid, and not as swift."

"But his strength was noticeable," one of my guards added. I smiled as I rubbed the back of my neck, the curls of my short blond hair twirling against my fingers.

"I believe I will answer my aunt's letter now," I said and I hold my arms out for my valet to help me back into my over tunic.

I passed the rest of the evening answering treaties and other social niceties. Auntie's letter I save for last so I can answer in great length. Her tone was always warm, but the sadness I read before was still there in her carefully penned words.

'How I wish I were there to see you on your Father's throne, Chid. You must be so tall now, and so mature. Asturia is in your veins as well, so please show her gallantry as well as Freid's strength.' I smile and tap a finger affectionately against the scroll. Auntie was forever reminding me of my Asturian blood. How she must miss Mother as Father and I had. I pick up a fresh piece of parchment and a servant hands me a ready new quill, sharpened with a dagger. I dip the end into a well stone of ink and begin my response to Asturia's ruler.

'My dear Aunt Millerna, I can't begin to express my joy at another response from you. Freid is doing well and I am progressing as far as would make Father and Mother proud. I dearly hope you can make a visit to Freid's palace once again, for this trip would be far more enjoyable as we live in a time of peace….'

I finished the letter and read it over making sure all was neat and legible. My servants take it to dry and then seal to send on its way over to Asturia with the next envoy leviship. I leaned back, running a hand through my blond hair as I went over the most puzzling part of Auntie's letter.

'Your mother and I used to listen to her music box constantly when we were younger. It broke my heart when she took it with her to Freid upon marrying your Father, but it holds a special place in both of our hearts….'

Why did Auntie go on about that music box? I knew which she referred to, the large ornate box in the manor Father had built for Mother. I loved walking through the lavishly furnished rooms, but it made me sad for Mother's presence was no longer here in an icon built for her past. Auntie had used those rooms when she and her strange friends, along with Allen Schezar, had fled to our borders in hopes of sanctuary and to pass on warnings of Zaibach's wrath.

A strange compulsion takes hold of me and I wrap my over tunic tightly around my tall form. Three monk guards follow me with their long staffs of wood as I make the way over to Mother's Manor. Was there something about her music box? Why else would Auntie go off on length about it? I was taught by Voris years ago; that if someone went in great detail about something, there usually was a reason for it.

The monks stay in the gardens outside the door as I light a lamp and carry it to Mother's desk. Her music box sat waiting, and I wound it. A light tune sang out to my ears and I lounged back in the desk's chair, my mind conjuring images of feather-winged angels praying. They all held pendants similar to Hitomi-donno's. Of course I would think of the citizens of Atlantis. The family of Freid guarded the secrets of their destroyed wisdom and only the holy monks of that far off temple also knew of the origins of the Power Spot housed in our borders.

I sigh and play with the edges of the music box. Is this what Auntie wanted me to do, to remember my royal family's ancient duties? But she kept writing about my Asturian blood…. My wandering fingers triggered a small button and I sit, transfixed as the face of the music box whirls to the side, revealing a secret compartment. What was this? A small book sat importantly, hidden no longer. Asturia's royal seal was engraved on the leather cover.

I slowly pick up the book and read the first page.

'My younger sisters Eries and Millerna do not want to go with me on a tour inspection with Father. How he was angry with them! My little sisters make me laugh aloud with joyful mirth that we all need after Mother passed with Millerna's entrance to this world….'

It was Mother's journal! I didn't even know she had kept one and I can't stop the eager smile spreading across my lips as I lean forward in the chair, holding the journal close like a favorite member of the family. She had left something behind for me! She had died so suddenly from her illness that all Father and I could do in the wake of our grief was try to survive each day, each week and each year while doing our duty. Every child longs for a note from a deceased parent and I had found something better. Mother's thoughts and hopes and wishes were written in her own hand in these pages. Was this what Auntie had wanted me to find?

I read for hours in the manor styled after Asturian architecture. The monks peered in and asked if my imperial highness was well. I released them from their watch, and assured them I would find my way back into the palace without calamity. Gangi was sure to reprimand these young guards severely for taking a prince at his word, but they left me alone with happy moments of reading my Mother's dreams.

'Today my uncle took me to a tournament in Asturia's honor. There was a youth there, shining bright as a blade, and a real prodigy of the sword. His name was Allen Schezar.'

I laugh aloud at that first mention of the greatest of Asturia's Knights Caeli in Mother's hand. Memories of her stories of his famed prowess, of his strength and nobility and his loyalty came to mind. How I had listened wide-eyed to a knight my mother had obviously known and respected. She must have been his friend for years!

I eagerly read on and on, but my heart grows troubled and my mind fuzzy. Mother's admiration of Allen grew and grew in her entries and it was enough to make me think she had developed something of an attraction to him. My heart sinks to my stomach and to my feet when I read the words that confirm this to my confused emotions.

'I like him. I love him. This is the tragedy of royalty. Why must I be a princess of Asturia? One of my rank can never be with a knight. This is what happens when royalty falls in love.' I close my eyes and shake my head hard. So Mother had harbored feelings for Allen Schezar. My memories of my tall blond, gentle mother told me she had love enough for everyone she met. Anyone would be blind not to have her love as a friend. Or so I tried to console myself. It was common knowledge Mother had been betrothed to Father at the date I just read in her journal. She had been Father's loving wife. My mind reverted to childish affirmation at this self-assuring thought.

Mother had loved Father dearly. I was told arranged marriages learned to sort themselves out, and my parents had grown into something real and something substantial of the heart. I knew Father had loved her fiercely. My parents had been in love, I told myself as I read on. My heart wants to make me sick at the last entries I come to.

'What shall I do? The Duke has only to count the days to know the baby is not his.' The words blurred and I rubbed my eyes. The wetness did not go away and I shake my head violently. Father's stern face came to mind, and his kind eyes when he instructed me in something a prince of Freid would need to know. Did Freid sire me at all?

In almost denial, I re-read the words that threatened to unmake my very existence. 'The Duke has only to count the days to know…. The baby is not his….'

What did this mean? Why did she write this to hide it away?

My father was not my real father?

Mother's leather bound journal slips from my numb fingers and falls to the floor. My jaw clenched, loosened and clenched again. Images of the tall and slim blond knight Allen Schezar walk through the darkness of my mind, as high as the heavens, and gallant and noble as I always knew he would be.

"Chid. Have you ever believed in anyone with all of your heart? Sometimes it takes more courage to believe in someone than to fight." How kind and how knowing his eyes had been, far more knowing than a mere knight serving a prince of Gaea.

"Allen?… Allen is my?…" My tongue stutters. I sink to my knees, then fall the rest of the way to the floor. Then I bury my face in my hands, my pale angular face so similar to a man I had idolized. My father had not been my real father.

End for now

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Sincerely, penpaninu 3/26/06


	2. Visit to Asturia

This story exists to let Chid know the true origins of his bloodline. Marlene's manor not being burnt down in Zaibach's attack, along with her diary, is merely happenstance and wishful thinking on this author's part. The fire missed that area of the palace! Yeah, that's what happened…

Disclaimer: Penpaninu does not claim to own The Vision of Escaflowne or characters within. Merely writes stories containing them.

"The Blood of Chivalry" chapter two

Visit to Asturia

"Prince Chid! Welcome to Palas!" I nodded as the head of the palace household bowed low, holding his ledger to his chest.

"Thank you. I will enjoy my stay here," I said respectfully to the high servant. Gangi stood at my right elbow, and followed my tall form into the palace grounds. A retinue of monk guards followed with their staffs of wood, their eyes alert and bright to their surroundings. The bright sun shone off the naked domes of their shaved heads.

I sighed and looked around at the palace that had seen my mother's birth and her childhood. I recognized the architecture from her numerous stories, and from the manor Father had built. I could see the blond memory of Mother flit from column to column, following my sedate pace into her birth home. Father's sword of his rule hung from a sash round my hip, I wore the slightly heavy helmet of the Duchy of Freid, my robes fine yet militant. Father would have been proud of my every movement.

Mother's ring flashed on my left hand. I sighed. Father wasn't my real father. He shouldn't have been proud at all.

"Chid! Is that you, Chid?" A pleasing feminine voice asked. I stopped, Gangi and his guards at my back, and stared with nearly bloodshot eyes at the tall golden woman lit by the sun. For a split second, my exhausted mind thought my mother was before me again, walking by my side ever since she had died in Freid.

Before my lips could part and ask for the woman I missed, the tall woman came out of the sun, and she was suddenly my aunt. Millerna, ruler of Asturia, was as beautiful as every courtier claimed her to be, and just as wise and intelligent. She ruled her father's lands with the help of her elder sister Eries, now married to a cousin of her husbands. It was rumored Dryden, son of Meiden, departed Palas since the end of the Great War of Gaea to rebuild the countryside and to supply the people destitute from the war's destruction with goods and livelihood. Many had a theory to why he hadn't come back to his wife since his departure, each story more outrageous and unfair than the last. Dryden did not care for his wife, that's why he couldn't stand to be near her. He had a mistress wife in another land. Millerna had driven him off at sword point, insulting him the whole way.

I would sooner denounce every tale when I saw the kind smile of my aunt, and her shining eyes. If there were any problems in her marriage, I did not see it in her gait or her face. I felt the years of ruling my Duke Father's kingdom lift from my slim shoulders and smiled a rare smile from my childhood.

"Aunt Millerna! I mean, Queen of Asturia," I held one fist to my heart and made a courtly bow. Millerna curtsied and took my wiry arm to walk inside. Gangi nodded with approval behind me. Millerna of Asturia was as beautiful as the stories said, and he was getting quite an eyeful.

"Duke of Freid. We received your letter just recently! I pray we've had enough time to ready your rooms for you and your guards to meet your liking," Millerna stated, crisp with her business as usual. I smiled and guided my aunt along on my arm. I was taller than her now, I noted. We shared the same blond hair and the same blue eyes. Hair and eyes the same shade as….

"Thank you, Millerna-sama," I said politely. Millerna had refreshments brought for me, and my retinue, and she made me sit in her parlor. Gangi and the monks were left outside. Only a few of Millerna's handmaidens milled about, refilling our teacups, and cleaning lightly.

"Why the sudden visit, Prince Chid? Although a visit was long overdue!" Millerna smiled sweetly. I smiled, my eyes exhausted.

"I merely wanted to be near my mother's family once more, Auntie. I've not seen your elder sister since I was a child, and yourself since Zaibach's attack." I said smoothly. Millerna reached across the table to pat my hand.

"You're right, family should keep in touch, Chid. Oh I had to remind myself to keep calling you Duke, for you are the ruler of Freid now! I remember when you were tiny and Marlene would carry you in her arms," Millerna's eyes sparkled with sad remembrance.

I regarded my aunt solemnly, my long face pulling taut. "Auntie…. Could…" Was it true? Was Allen Schezar really my father after all? Mother wouldn't write such a discriminating lie…

"Could I what, Chid?" Millerna asked, her face open and guileless. No, if she knew, she kept it secret to save my reputation and her family's. Auntie Millerna loved Allen herself, didn't she? My heart ached, that such a knight had such a foot holding in my mother's family.

"Could you tell me stories about my mother? With Father gone, and Voris who knew her at Freid, there's but no one who remembers her time at home," I confessed, my young heart surging for familiar warmth. Father, why did you teach me to succeed you? Is it because you could not get a child off of Mother and Allen could?

Millerna smiled and sipped her tea in a refined manner.

"I miss your mother as well, Chid! I wish you could have known her longer. She was a marvelously warm woman, kind-hearted and generous to others, and she loved our family, and your father as well," Millerna said. My heart rose yet sank at each word of hers. Was she merely trying to be kind? There was truth in her words, yet a thin veil of gentle persuasion. One could go mad trying to decipher the hidden meaning in her speech.

"Thank you, Auntie. I can but remember her sitting at my bedside and telling me stories about…." I pause, my regal face profiled to my aunt as I stared at the tall gallant form that swept into the room suddenly. The handmaidens dipped in curtsies, and Millerna smiled.

"Millerna-sama," Allen Schezar greeted and bowed on one knee, his gloved fist over his heart. "How are you this afternoon?"

"Just fine since the sword play I watched this morning," Millerna smiled, but it was the reserved smile of a mature woman. Gone was the younger woman I remembered at Freid, who held Allen's arm with stars in her eyes. She had known heartache and sorrow in the years I had seen her, and she was careful around Asturia's greatest Knight Caeli. I sit, my hands clenching the arms of my chair, my jaw tensed. The jaw that was so similar to the slim man who now turned to me with eyes as blue as the sky. Just like Mothers…

"Chid-ouji! I was not alerted to your arrival. How was the journey?" Allen Schezar asked kindly. His eyes were old, and they watched me with a wary sorrow of their own.

I sit straight as Father would have and masked my face. "Freid sings a new song of prosperity after the Great War, and we have come to extend our ties of friendship once more," I announce. A muscle at the corner of Allen's jaw tenses, noticing the royal plural I used with my speech. His eyes were suddenly older than him, betraying his appearance of youth with his trim body and long blond hair. The blond hair I trimmed short like Fathers…

"That is good to hear. Millerna-san extends news of your well being from time to time," Allen said, his smile wide but his eyes sad. Millerna fidgeted in her seat, unnoticed by the servants, but very plain to my peripheral sight. My fingers clenched the arms of my chair. Fine velvet imprinted into my fingertips.

"Allen," I snapped. My sire straightened his spine, set at attention on one knee. I swallowed the tears in my voice and leaned forward.

"What is it, my prince?" he asked, offering me the respect due to the separation of our rank. I pursed my lips and watched him with stern blue eyes as bright as the sky.

"Talk with me awhile. Your Duke commands you." Millerna and Allen both stiffen at the choice of my words, and the way I carried them out. Briefly, their eyes met, as if to question my authority. I stand, my militant robes swishing, and Allen has no choice but to escort me.

I wave a hand for Gangi and the monks to stay behind. Allen alone flanks my left shoulder as I walk with purpose down the corridors, barely suppressing my emotions to bid my aunt a reprieve in our visit. Millerna fidgeted like a child and worry was open across her face.

The tall blond followed. When I came out to a courtyard, I turned and looked at him from under my brows. We were almost the same height.

"What does my Duke command of me?" Allen asked respectfully. I laid one hand on the hilt of Father's sword.

"Mother's manor was largely undestroyed in Zaibach's attack against our capital." Allen's eyes masked at my words. Was he going to act the servant with me? I wanted the truth.

"That is good news, my Duke! I pray your lady mother's trappings were safe as well," Allen said smoothly. I grit my teeth and clenched my fists.

"After Millerna-oba-san sent me a letter, I went through her things and discovered something," I deliberately drew out. Allen watched me, his gaze carefully controlled. I went on. "I found an old diary of hers."

Allen looked unswayable. I was suddenly hateful of his self-control and wanted to hurt him as he had hurt Mother's heart. He had gotten me on her, and went on his way, was that right? My heart felt bad for Father, but I had to continue.

"She talked about you a lot in there. She even listed dates that should have been dates Father was courting her. You were still in the entries," I accused. Allen's jaw twitched and he watched me remorsefully.

"Chid-ouji…" I narrowed my eyes, the edges going wet.

"She wrote about her…. Involvement with you. Did Father know what you did to her?" I all but screamed. Gone was the careful look of a servant to his master. Allen's face paled and he watched me, his mouth agape with shock. An eternity stretched between us. I snarled and turned to leave.

"Chid, wait!" For the first time in my life, Allen Schezar called me without suffix of rank. I turned, my eyes hurt, wanting the warm paternal approval Father gave but seldom to me. Allen laid his large hands over my shoulders and stared into my eyes. The apple in my throat darted as I swallowed.

"Chid…." Allen kneeled on one knee and looked up at me. "It's true. You are more than likely my child, we felt…"

"Why? Why didn't you tell me when you came to warn me years ago?" I demanded. Allen straightened my helmet, and sash, his hands gentle and caring in those moments where truth reigned.

"I couldn't…. I couldn't dishonor your mother's memory, or betray the friendship your father had in a soldier," Allen said carefully. His eyes, they were so sad, I felt a stabbing moment of regret in hurting him. Father…. Is that why he was so intent on lecturing and schooling me?

"Did Father know?" Childish tears squeezed out of my eyes. Allen stood straight and gave me a moment to collect myself. As I wiped my eyes on my wide sleeve, I saw him whispering silent words to himself. He was collecting himself as well.

"Chid-ouji… I did love your mother. She was the first person I ever longed for, ever cared for, ever loved. It was due to unfortunate status between us that I could not marry her and raise you. I don't regret giving in to our love, for I could deny your mother nothing," Allen went on. His voice was controlled, low and warm. My heart rose and broke at once hearing his explanation.

"You had an excellent father, who loved your mother unconditionally. And the Duke… he did know. Marlene would have told him, she has always been the more honorable one," Allen went on. His eyes were soft and vulnerable, talking about the blond ghost that surely followed him as well. "He loved you and raised you, that is more than anyone could hope. I only regret, my young Duke, that I took your father's heir from him."

I clenched my fists. "Allen…. For years I idolized you. I looked up to you. Even with your visits running from Zaibach. Why didn't you… why didn't anyone tell me? I had to find out for myself."

Allen clasped my strong shoulders with his large hands once more, and I felt assurance, comfort through his touch. I look up, bewildered and hurt.

"I couldn't tell you. Your father needed you when Marlene died without conceiving again…. Chid, no, he loved you, and you are his son as much as mine," Allen explained carefully. "Think not ill of the late Duke of Freid."

I took a deep breath, feeling my robes constrict against my chest. I had the truth, but suddenly I knew I had never wanted it. It was safer to remain in the dark and oblivious. What good was truth but to stab and hurt, cause consternation in a man I once thought of as God's Soldier, and my friend?

"I need to sit down…" I whisper, and Allen's eyes crinkle with relief I kept the royal plural from my speech.

"Chid-ouji… if there's anything I can do… anything I can tell you about Marlene…" Allen offered, his face taut with concern. I cringed at the paternal authority in his gaze and lowered my own.

"I will send for you, Allen….. it's just that, I need to be alone," I said weakly. Allen watched me sadly and slowly nodded. He didn't want to leave me alone, I knew. But I couldn't be near him right now. I waited for Asturia's finest knight to clip his way smartly back inside before I swayed to a nearby fountain and almost collapsed against it. My legs would not work with the shock I had brought on myself and I blamed myself entirely for investigating Mother's handwritten words.

I gazed up at the setting sun of Asturia and held my head in my hands. A short while later I heard feminine whispering. I looked up from my self-induced agony. A tall figure of molten silver was headed toward me, her round body swaying with her efforts. I forced a nervous smile on my lips. Eries, second daughter of Asturia, was content to merely counsel and aid the younger heir. She had worked for her family for years but finally after years of pushing from Millerna, had settled on a courtship with a ready suitor and had married. As King Aston had already passed, she was free to choose for herself, and she settled on Marden, King Drydan's young cousin. One could see a political advantage in her decision, but I knew she would find the earnest young merchant, head of his own company in his family's business and known for his acts of generosity, a catch all for herself and not just for Asturia.

"Chid, I barely recognized you. You've grown so tall," my first aunt greeted me kindly, her words polite and practiced. I found real warmth in them and knew her for a woman of counsel.

"Eries-oba-san! It has been several years…. You have grown into a wonderful leader," I offered poorly, as my gaze settled on the protruding roundness of her belly. Eries smiled the kind serene smile of a woman loved, and rested her hands against the swell of her child.

"And a new mother as well. I thank every day that Millerna had pushed me to finally take a husband," Eries said. She made to sit at the fountain with me and I jumped up to aide her.

"I know what you mean, Eries-oba-san. Gangi and my advisors have asked I take a wife, or at least a courtship, for three years now," I tried to smile. Eries regarded me with quiet scrutiny, her gaze deliberate.

"May I?" she asked, and reached for the helmet on my brow. I nodded and helped her lift the sign of my dukedom from my head and set it at my side. My aunt's long fingers traced the lines of my face, the contours of my temple and brow, and ran through the wisps of blond curls at the base of my neck. I tried not to look pleased, for I had missed a woman's touch, and Eries had known Mother longer than Millerna-oba-san.

"What are you looking for?" I asked lightly. My tall body was suddenly wracked with anxiety as Eries looked into my eyes, eyes as blue as hers.

"For a trace of your mother," were her words, but her gaze and her tone set my spine rigid in anger. She knew. She knew who my sire was.

"I'm told I look just like her, blond hair, blue eyes," I ventured dryly. Two could play the game of words.

"You do, you do! But I see a bit of your father in you as well," Eries went on. I watched her, my eyes weary.

"We don't have to play any longer, my dear aunt. I found out why Father was so strict with me," I said lowly. Eries gasped, her eyes wide and she faltered, her hands fluttering at her breast as if she considered flight from my statement. I gripped her shoulders gently with my large pale hands.

"I found my mother's diary in the palace. I know now why she told me so much about Allen Schezar."

"Oh, CHID…." Eries traced my face, tears in her eyes. "It wasn't… it was…"

I smiled sadly, not wanting to hear her next words. "Don't say it was a mistake. Or I wouldn't be here to talk to you about this now."

Eries-oba-san touched my face, so close to her elder sisters, and embraced me gently. I shuddered, feeling my own tears come up to the surface.

"You are your father's son. But it's true. Asturia alone did produce you for Freid's rule," Eries said regally. I leaned my head close to her shoulder and felt her fingers sift through my short blond hair.

"What am I to do with this, aunt?" I asked tearfully. Eries-oba-san sighed and rubbed the swell of her belly gently.

"We can only live with it, Chid…. We can only try to accept it for it is the truth," she said sagely. I conceded this was the wisest course of action and nodded.

Gradually, an elderly Knight Caeli, not Allen, alighted at the edge of the courtyard and announced the dinner's preparations for the Duke of Freid and his Asturian relations was ready. I stood, my eyes dry now, and offered my elder aunt my arm. She leaned against my wiry strength as we made our way to the dining room. A few other of the Knights Caeli milled around, at attention as they watched the royals. Allen had assigned himself it would seem, and was with his brothers-in-arms.

I ignored him and helped Eries into a chair. A dark haired tall man with close-cropped whiskers jumped to help and I was introduced to Marden, Dryden's cousin. The youth smiled easily, and his eyes alighting on his royal wife were warm. I wished him and Eries many happy years, and the wish their child be a boy and helped myself to sit beside Millerna-oba-san. I pretended not to notice the look Eries-oba-san flashed her younger sister. Millerna looked rather frightened as I calmly shook out my cloth napkin and laid it across my lap. I could feel her try to seek out Allen's eyes across the room. I felt the large beginnings of a headache come on, trying to eat my head in its jaws.

I lifted my goblet and toasted my family. Allen shifted at the edge of my vision. Millerna smiled graciously and drank, Marden fussing over Eries, and he signaled a maid to pour Asturia's second daughter water instead of wine. Gangi stood behind my chair at attention, as I conversed with Dryden's young cousin.

The evening meal went by as quietly as I hoped it would and I was beginning to relax when a valet rushed into the room, sweat pouring from his face into his neck, he had come that quickly. The head of the household conversed with him and beamed broadly, sending the footman on his way, hopefully to a break. The guy had worn himself out extending the news quickly.

"My royal highnesses Millerna-sama, Eries-sama, Marden-sama and Duke of Freid, Chid-sama," The head of the palace spoke up grandly. We all stopped mid bite and watched him curiously. Marden rubbed Eries elbow gently as we waited.

"We are pleased to announce the arrival of the head merchant's envoy. Meiden-san and Dryden-sama have returned!"

There was a flurry of consternation and noise as the servants and Knights Caeli assembled in the dining hall buzzed like insects. Eries looked surprised but complacent; her young husband Marden beaming at the news of his elder cousin returning to his seat of legality. The Knights were at attention, ready to bow once the King of Asturia came to us with his merchant king father. Allen was tensed, I saw. Millerna looked nervous, and giddy, about to swoon from her feet after she rose to stand and greet her lord husband.

And suddenly I knew I was going to be seeing something interesting that the most rabid gossipmonger would have paid dearly to be a fly on the wall to witness. And I wished to be far off in Freid suddenly.

Two more foot runners charged in and bowed low to the head of the household.

"We come ahead of Dryden-sama and his esteemed father!" one of them was heard loudly exclaiming. We, the royals, tensed as one unit. We waited, in a ridiculous silence. Suddenly two tall figures swept into the room, their merchant robes flapping around their ankles. And I saw the family resemblance between Marden and the two elder men and smiled to myself.

Meiden, the patriarch of the merchant family, had built a name for himself out of nothing, and had established a large footing in the Gaea noble names, intricately coming close to the late King Aston as a friend and close ally, and then as a brother as they joined their two children in a matched marriage. Effectively this had gained the self-made merchant family a royal name for itself, and he carried it well. The heavily bearded man wore his merchant robes still, and his body had gained a rounder belly as he aged, but he wore authority well and his swift movements into the dining room showed that.

At his side was a much younger and fit version of himself. He wore long merchant robes with an overcoat, his long brown hair tied up in a high tail that cascaded well to the middle of his back. He wore dark spectacles, and his face was lined with unshaved stubble, hinting at an air of overwork instead of a mere lack of self-hygiene. His hands were large and free of jewelry save the merchant's ring he used to seal wax crests with in transaction.

"My esteemed fellows, I have returned," Dryden said grandly, in his old flair. An impetuous smile tugged at the corner of his jaw, but faded as his gaze alighted onto his lady wife. Chid noted Dryden did not wear the match of an elaborate ring on his left hand that Millerna still wore as its mate. Where was his ring linking him to Millerna? Chid suddenly found himself in a family web of intrigue that would feed any gossip for years and he felt ill.

"Cousin, Uncle, welcome back to Asturia!" Marden spoke up hastily as silence reigned when Dryden regarded his wife. Eries echoed her husband's sentiments with graceful polite tones. Dryden moved in and smiled at his cousin, and greeted me with smooth aplomb.

"Freid is glad to have Asturia's friendship," I answered in return to him, giving him my high respect as apparent ruler of Asturia. Millerna's hands twisted together.

"We are glad to have you here, Duke Chid of Freid. Be welcome and I hope my wife and her sister have been of assistance to you," Dryden said gamely.

Allen tensed with his Knights Caeli and I felt suddenly sorry for my sire. But then I thought of how his apparent love interest was so close to the throne of Asturia, and my own mother's younger sister at that. Anger flared through my being. And I found a friend in Dryden of Asturia.

"They have been, thank you, King. I pray your return to Asturia be a happy one."

Dryden's eyes went back to his wife and a careful smile tugged at the corners of his raspy jaw. "Thank you, Duke. I pray it is as well."

Millerna met his eyes bravely.

End for now

Like it? Hate it? Please send me your comments and reviews. I read and try to answer each and every one.

This kind of Escaflowne story has been in my head for a while, and I watch the whole series once a year. I intend to do a story solely on Van and Fanelia, but this one had to be written first.

Most sincerely yours, penpaninu 4/26/06


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